Kirkham

I acknowledge your concern about the categorisation of people in prison and that some are considered unsuitable for a Category D establishment like HMP Kirkham, which I note is an ongoing issue for the Board. I hope to assure the Board that the new Security Categorisation Policy Framework and Digital Categorisation Service (DCS) have, since February 2021, been implemented in all male prisons in England and Wales. The DCS includes a specific assessment for Category D and open conditions. When HM Prison and Probation Service (HMPPS) considers whether to reduce a person’s security category, the responsible offender manager will take account of any information whether the person is likely to commit further crimes in custody, risk of escape and harm to the public. In addition, they will assess any danger an individual may pose to others and whether the person is likely to disrupt the security or good order of the prison.
Locally, as well as pre-transfer suitability checks and assessment prior to transfer, HMP Kirkham has introduced as part of the Abscond Reduction Strategy (outlined by my predecessor in her letter dated 12th June 2020), a process of notifying the Governor / Director of a sending establishment of any immediate concerns on the transfer of an individual to HMP Kirkham. Furthermore, if there are issues that have arisen subsequently about the suitability for open conditions, staff will discuss this at length with the sending establishment.

The pandemic has understandably affected some elements of the service delivery at HMP Kirkham and the availability of third-party contractor(s). HMPPS has worked hard along with Amey colleagues to minimise these effects and staff absences, although some delays have been outside their control due to preventing the spread of the virus. At the Estates meeting attended by the Governor various performance elements of the facilities management contract is monitored (also attended Amey).
There has been progress made to the lighting improvement work, additional luminaires around the perimeter outskirts of the prison and lighting to the temporary accommodation is complete.

As mentioned in last year’s response, call tariffs set for the PIN phones are commensurate with those that are used for fixed line telephony within private homes, with calls made at weekends attracting a lower charge than those made during the core week and calls to mobile phones attracting a much higher premium. BT has reduced the cost of PIN phone system calls during this pandemic until visits can resume. While the PIN phone system is not directly comparable to any other public payphone service, security and monitoring is essential to the specific requirements of HMPPS, services and costs are currently being reviewed.

There have been some technical challenges in terms of call quality and user experience, as a result, some adjustments have been made, which appear to have improved feedback and this can be seen in the continued rise in the take up of video calls. HMPPS is committed to keeping a secure video calling capability as a core tool to support family ties beyond the pandemic. Within open prisons, mobile phones are permitted as a transitional measure for family contact as part of regime mitigations. Further considerations for their use are being made in line with regime recovery work. Locally, HMP Kirkham has created an additional slot for purple visits at weekends. Post regime recovery from Covid-19, this facility will be available during the profiled domestic visiting time Friday to Sunday. Additional resources have been funded which will provide a further mid-week visits period including purple visits. It is hoped that there will be a greater interest in purple visits at HMP Kirkham in the coming months ahead.